Going to the game? Pack earplugs and lose the vuvuzela, WHO says

Feb 28, 2015

GENEVA (Reuters) - Sports fans risk having their hearing ruined by vuvuzela trumpets and deliberate attempts to increase stadium noise and they need to start seeing earplugs as something cool, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Shelly Chadha, a WHO expert on preventing deafness, said some U.S. sporting crowds consider breaking noise levels as an achievement, and cited a 136.6 decibel world record claimed by Seattle Seahawks fans in 2013. "Anybody who is exposed to 136 dB for even a minute is going to face some consequences," she told a news conference.Vuvuzelas, the blari...